


while you were sleeping

by patriciaselina



Series: Once Upon A Time In Iwatobi [3]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Movie Fusion, Alternate Universe - Sleeping Beauty Fusion, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Love, Disney References, Gen, Implied Relationships, M/M, Multi, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-15
Updated: 2014-05-15
Packaged: 2018-01-24 22:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1619747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patriciaselina/pseuds/patriciaselina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story of Rei, beloved Prince of the house of Ryugazaki, told by the three good wizards who raised him and cherished him as they would one of their own.</p><p>(Sleeping Beauty AU, where Rei is Aurora and Nagisa is Philip; Rin, Makoto and Haruka are Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, respectively.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	while you were sleeping

He was just a little baby, but even then he already had the Queen’s brilliant blue shock of hair and the King’s high cheekbones, so they didn’t even have to bother thinking about giving him the usual gifts like _handsomeness_ and _charm_. Or gifts like _song_ and _dance_. This little baby already had an aura about him that screamed of having different priorities. Studies and athletics. Ruling his kingdom with a firm hand and a warm heart.

So Rin gave him a King’s strength. Makoto gave him a King’s wisdom. Haruka was going to give him a King’s grace to round it all out, but then –

– but then, there he came, Sasabe, Master of all the dark spells, and _of course_ he had to throw one big hissy fit over not getting an invite. So now poor baby Prince Rei had been doomed to drown in a bathtub on his sixteenth birthday and _die_ , and Sasabe dissolved into nothingness before Haruka could even put this blasted wand of his between the annoying sorcerer’s eyes.

So instead of giving him grace Haruka gave the baby Prince _life_. But not _exactly_ – the mechanics of life had always been inherently _unfair_ , and unlike its more malicious counterpart, _good_ magic _always_ comes with all these annoying terms and conditions. And since the one who came up with the antidote for this kind of spell had been _Rin_ , the conditional for this one is that in order for Prince Rei to live after this undignified drowning, he has to fall into a dreamless, magical sleep, and can only be woken up by love’s first kiss.

Rin had always and forever been one hell of a romantic, after all.

And that’s why Prince Rei will never grow up with a graceful bone in his body.  Oh well. At least he’s still handsome and strong and wise enough to make up for it.

Later that night, while the king set about burning all the few bathtubs in the vicinity of his kingdom – including the one belonging to _Haruka_ , which annoyed the blue-eyed wizard greatly – Rin suggested that they turn Prince Rei into a butterfly.

“Then he won’t drown _for sure_ , ‘cuz butterflies don’t take baths, do they?” Rin had said, grinning.

Makoto, dear, sweet, _impressionable_ Makoto, had already nodded along to this outrageous suggestion, but Haruka only frowned and shot Rin a disdainful glare. “If he’s a butterfly, Sasabe could easily hurt him in some other way.”

This led to the decreasing pace of Makoto’s wing-beats, and slowly the green-eyed wizard fluttered down, visibly deflated. “Haru’s right,” Makoto says. “Sasabe-san _does_ tend to rip the wings off your nicest butterflies, Rin.”

“And he’ll be expecting me to do that, since butterflies are kinda my domain and all,” Rin groaned, eventually settling down beside Makoto, with the same deflated look in his eyes. “ _Damn it_.”

“Of course Sasabe would expect it; he knows _everything_.” Haruka said while frowning. In the beginning, before his heart turned icky and black, Sasabe _had_ been their teacher, after all.

“Yeah, he does! But...well...not _exactly_ everything, Haru.” Makoto corrected. “Sasabe-san seems to have forgotten everything he once taught us about being helpful or kind or _loving_...”

At this some semblance of life had went back to Rin, his wing beats increasing in number and his wine-red eyes flying right open. But Haruka’s eyes were still fixed on Makoto as he spoke, and Makoto, aware of this, had been shyly looking down on his hands, so nobody noticed the flash of inspiration that went through Rin’s eyes.

“...actually I kinda feel a bit sorry for him, Haru. He doesn’t _seem_ like he’s happy.”

There is a short, feather-light hint of silence as they processed that, until Rin went zooming up in the air in a sudden burst of excited pink-red-maroon magic.

“ _That’s it!!!_ ” Rin whooped in a loud voice that would’ve called the entire kingdom to arms had they not been having this conversation in a jewelry box. (Long story.)

“What is it, Rin?” Makoto asked, concerned, as Rin flopped down to begin pacing back-and-forth across the velvet-lined jewelry box’s interior.

“Hmm...That house, yeah, _definitely_ that little cottage by the lake, Haru would kill me in my sleep if I put him somewhere completely landlocked. We’d have to make sure the Prince doesn’t drown, though...” Rin muttered under his breath, pacing, distracted, as Haruka and Makoto looked on. “Their Highnesses would be _pissed_ beyond belief, I mean, it’s _their_ baby and all, but I guess I can talk ‘em into agreeing.”

Makoto cocked his head, puzzled by his friend’s muttering. “Into agreeing to what, exactly…?”

“I’m talking about the three guys who’re gonna raise a cute lil’ orphan as their youngest bro, in a little lakeside cottage.”

“That sounds... _nice_ of them,” Haruka said, warily, with no idea where Rin is going with this. “Who are they? And where _is_ this lake, exactly...?”

“Hold your horses, Haru; you’ll get to see the lake very soon.” Rin chuckled, as he waves his wand over himself and his two friends. “But first! Take a look at our new outfits.”

Haruka did, and regretted it instantly. Only Heaven knew why Rin thought it best to clothe Haruka in _tiger print_. “ _Eugh_.”

“Fantastic, right?”

“The clothes are... _interesting_ , Rin,” Makoto said, carefully, disbelieving, which made all the sense ‘cause Makoto’s never been the type to wear _zebra-print clothing_. “But wouldn’t this only attract _more_ attention to us?”

“Ugh, okay, fine.” Rin groaned, rolling his eyes, waving his wand around to clothe themselves in plain dark blues, greens, and reds. He then decided to indulge his immense, rejected love for animal-print by tying a leopard-print cloth around his wrist. “There. Happy now?”

“Why did you dress us in these, by the way?” Makoto asked.

“ _Weeeeeeell_ , remember the guys I was talking about, Mako dear? They’re kinda looking at us in the mirror right now. Say hi!”

“You can’t _seriously_ be thinking we can raise the child, Rin.” Haruka huffed.

“Aw, shucks, Haru, don’t be such a spoilsport!” Rin guffawed while smacking Haruka on the back, loudly. “ _Humans_ can do it, for crying out loud; who’s to say _we_ can’t?”

“ _Aww_ ,” Makoto had cooed, “Then again, it’s been such a long time since Ran and Ren left; I’ve _really_ missed looking after a cute baby...”

“Same here. Gou just grew up too fast!” Rin nodded as a grin brightened up his entire face – he had been extremely glad that he’d won Makoto over to his side, again. “And I bet you’ll be an awesome big bro, Haru. We can do this, for sure!”

“Hn, fine,” Haruka conceded, stealing a glance at the blue shimmering wand in his hands. “And we’ll have our magic so we’ll be all right.”

“Yes, Haru, we will!” Makoto agreed.

That startled the hell out of Rin, though, and when he turned to his friends he almost looked _fearful_. “ _No_. We’re not gonna be using magic, at all. In fact...lemme get those wands.”

Rin had plucked Makoto’s wand off his fingers without batting an eyelash, and did something with Makoto’s twinkling pale green wings to make them disappear, but Haruka _flew_ , just barely keeping his wand out of Rin’s reach.

“Now, come on down, Haru, don’t be such a _baby_ about this...” Rin snapped, following Haruka upward.

“You’re talking about having us live as _mortals_ , Rin, for _sixteen years_.” Haruka said, still working on keeping himself at least a foot higher than Rin. “We can’t do that.”

“You think we _can’t_ do that, Haru, since we _don’t_ do that. So Sasabe won’t expect it at all!” Rin says, finally inching close enough for Haruka to make Rin’s pinkish-red wings disappear, and for Rin to do the same to Haruka’s pale-blue pair. “C’mon, we gotta tell the king and queen.”

.

.

.

.

They call him Ryu, after the dragon curled up majestically in his family’s coat of arms. It’s the least they can do, after all they’ve done; a way of giving the lost Prince Rei a little bit of his birthright back.

Somewhere along the sixteen years they fall into some kind of pattern: Rin hunts and fishes, Haruka cooks and cleans, and Makoto does everything else, up to and including fussing over Rei, as well as Haruka and Rin. As Rei grows he begins helping his so-called “brothers” around the house, growing up to be an excellent shot, an impressive cook, and a kind, selfless young man.

They try teaching him how to swim, in the hopes that this might help in protecting himself against Sasabe’s awful curse. But Rei is capable of doing nothing more than sinking like a rock and clutching weakly at his brothers’ hands as they pull him out of the water.

Even after including the little moments where Makoto makes a mess in the kitchen, Haruka cooks too much mackerel, Rin somehow ends up wrestling a bear, and Rei’s mindless humming leaves flocks of wild animals trailing in his wake, they’re content and happy. Like a _real_ family.

This makes it even harder on the three wizards on the day of Rei’s sixteenth birthday, but for his sake – for all their sakes – they try very hard not to let it show.

“I think this would fit him just nicely,” Haruka says, as Makoto and Rin and he huddle ‘round one of his rough sketches.

“Yeah, you’ve definitely outdone yourself with this, Haru,” Makoto says, eyes bright as he looks at Haruka’s drawing of their royal charge. “This would look wonderful on Ryu. It’s an outfit a prince could be proud of!”

“I _still_ think it could do with a lil’ more bold prints, though,” Rin grumbles.

“Rin, I am _not_ going to let you clothe Ryu in animal-print clothing. _Again_.” Haruka deadpans, as he slaps away Rin’s charcoal-holding hand from making any further adjustments. “Once was enough.”

“Aww, c’mon. Surely I wasn’t the _only_ one who saw how adorable he looked like when I got him that butterfly-print scarf for his birthday?” Rin says, hands on his hips as he preened, obviously really pleased at himself for being the cause of the smile that had bloomed across the young prince’s face. “Lil’bro obviously got the good sense of style from me. Can’t deny it.”

“… _unfortunately_.” Haruka grumbles.

“ _What did you just say_???”

“Now, now, Rin, Haru, fighting will get us nowhere, you know that…” Makoto says, holding his friends away from each other at arm’s length. “…the problem is, though, how are we gonna get Ryu out of the house?”

“And _why_ would you need me out of the house, Makoto- _niisan_?”

The three of them whip their heads around so quickly it causes them all whiplash, and if their jerky movements weren’t enough to let Rei know that they’re all hiding something from him, the similar “ _oh crap_ ” expressions they all had on their faces would’ve been the biggest giveaway.

“Oh, Ryu,” Haruka says in a monotone, struggling to keep the surprise off his usual poker face. “You’re up early.”

“Good morning, Haru- _niisan_. For some reason, I just couldn’t bear to waste my time by sleeping in today.” Rei says in reply, a slightly mischievous smile on his face. “What’re you three up to?”

“Up to?” Makoto and Rin parrot, nervously, at around the exact same time.

 _Great job, you two, Rei’s **definitely** not suspicious now,_ Haruka thinks. “Absolutely nothing,” he replies.

“H-how long have you been there, Ryu?” Makoto asks, in a small, uneasy voice.

“Just long enough to hear that you want me to leave the house, for some reason.” Rei says, that smile still set firmly in place. “Now, I wonder _why_ my dear elder brothers would be hiding something from me…”

“ _Hiding_ , nothing,” Rin scoffs, crossing his arms, like he always did when he was nervous. “We just wanted to talk about the best way to convince you into getting us some ice from outside, since you never really liked that job.”

“Eventually we decided on telling you that we’ll be using it for iced desserts,” Makoto adds, completely surprised at how easily he’s lying right now. “And we will, as soon as you get back.”

Haruka hands Rei his ice axe, the slightest hints of worry in his ocean-blue eyes – it _is_ the coldest month of winter after all, the last month of the year. Harvesting ice really _isn’t_ a safe job for them to distract Rei with, but it’s not as if they could just go and tell him to go fishing when the lake’s already frozen over. “Be careful, don’t hurry up too much, and keep close –”

“– but not _too_ close!” Rin butts in, and Rei finds himself smiling because this is _definitely_ not sounding suspicious to him _at all_.

“– he’s a man who thinks that animal-print breeches are perfectly fine things to wear in public, don’t listen to him, Ryu. _Keep close_.” Haruka repeats. Rei’s ‘brothers’ are different as night and day and afternoon, but they all have the exact same mile-wide protective streak, even though they express it differently.

“Don’t talk to strangers!” Makoto reminds him as he wraps Rei in the really warm winter coat, his eyebrows scrunched up worriedly. “And if you need help just shout _really_ loud. We’ll come help you.”

“ _And_ if you ever get assaulted by a weird creepy stranger,” Rin recites, as he always does every time Rei goes out of the house, as he wraps the hideously garish butterfly-print scarf over Rei’s neck. “Where would you strike first?”

Rei rolls his eyes. “Eyes, groin, ears, nose, knees. I’ll be off now.”

As Rei walks off, wearing extra layers and holding the ice axe gingerly in his hands, Rin rubs his chin and asks, “Does he suspect anything?”

“I doubt it, Rin,” Makoto answers, and at that very moment Haruka let out a sigh deep as the Marianas Trench because how on earth had he endured coexisting with these two _unbelievably_ dense men for all these centuries? “Never mind that. We gotta get to work!”

“Hmm, okay,” Haruka nods. “I’ll go get the wands, then –”

“ _No!_ ” Rin yelps, putting himself in between Haruka and the cupboard under the staircase where they’ve kept their wands under lock and key for the past sixteen years. “You’re centuries old, Haru, had sixteen years been enough for you to forget what I said when we started this? _No magic_ , and that’s final!”

“But the sixteen years are almost _over_ , Rin!”

“I’m not taking any chances,” Rin huffs. “It’s _our Ryu’s_ _life_ on the line here, by the way. We’re gonna do this the right way if we wanna get through today.”

Haruka sighs as he finally gives up, resigned to Rin and his tiresome instructions. “Fine. I’ll start working on the cake, then.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, Haru!” Makoto says, as he somehow brings a massive pile of stacked bowls and wooden spoons to the kitchen counter, where a bag of flour is already resting on. “I’ll take care of the cake.”

“ _Makoto_? _Seriously_?” Haruka mutters. With good reason – the last time Makoto had tried his hand in the kitchen, he’d almost set the entire cottage on fire. _The entire cottage._

“Aw, c’mon, Haru, Mako’s _always_ wanted to make a cake for Rei. You know those two are massive closet sweet-toothed guys.” Rin says, setting down the roll of (blessedly _plain_ ) purple fabric in his hands to pick up a roll of measuring tape. “And while he’s busy with that, I’m gonna do the sewing. You can be the dummy, Haru, just hold still…”

“What – _no_!” Haruka snaps, stepping away from Rin and his measuring tape as if the redhead was an evil witch with a poisoned apple. “ _You can’t sew_! And I told you that the fabric we’ll be using for Ryu’s outfit would be _navy blue_!”

“Haru, d’you remember how we decided that Ryu’s color was _purple_?” Rin snaps back, measuring along the length of Haruka’s legs.

“ _You_ were the only one who decided that, Rin.” Haruka scoffs, grudgingly allowing Rin to drape fabric around his waist.

“Actually…” Makoto trails off, and starts again, “…I think purple fits Ryu very well, too! It brings out the color of his eyes.”

“…fine,” Haruka concedes, looking to the side like he always did when Makoto expressed an opinion. For all Haruka’s stubbornness, he could never begrudge Makoto what he wanted. Even if what Makoto wanted came from one of Rin’s suggestions.

“Looks like _someone_ ’s gone all soft on Mako,” Rin smirks as he mutters under his breath, whilst taking note of Haruka’s shoulder-width.

“I’m not the only one, mind,” Haruka says, looking at Rin pointedly. They’re both aware that they’ve been nursing identical feelings for Makoto for _centuries_. They also both have no idea what to do with these said feelings, though.

“Whatever,” Rin scoffs. “I can feel that this is gonna be my greatest work, already!”

“I beg to differ,” Haruka says, sneering at the strips of fabric haphazardly draped around his waist and over his shoulders. “This looks _horrible_.”

“It’s ‘cuz _you’re_ wearing it, Haru.” Rin frowns as he rolls out the length of fabric necessary to cover Haruka’s legs. “Ryu would pull this look off just fine.”

He drapes it over Haruka’s hip, and takes a step back to comprehend the length – Rei’s grown to be taller than Haruka, just a few breaths taller than Rin, and so the fabric Rin measured out goes past Haruka’s ankles, dragging behind him on the wooden floor. “God, that kid’s really grown a lot.”

Haruka’s normally a stranger to sudden bursts of _emotion_ , but this thought gives him a lump in his throat and he just has to swallow it down it it’s the last thing he does. “When we first saw him, he was just a child.”

“A tiny little baby,” Makoto says, cradling a mixing bowl like he did baby Rei sixteen years ago.

“And now it’s been sixteen years,” Haruka hears himself say, feels the wetness threatening to fall down his cheeks. “He’s all grown up, and by the end of this day he’ll be a Prince again and we won’t have our Ryu any longer.”

 _Our Ryu_. It’s not the first time Haruka referred to Rei by the name they gave him, but it’s the first time he attached the possessive to it, and the enormity of this – and the tears glittering in his bright blue eyes – is not lost on Rin and Makoto.

“Now, don’t be so sad, Haru,” Makoto says, walking away from his baking to console his best friend. His voice is calm, but his green eyes have tears flowing freely from them, too. “We’ve always known this day would come – and besides, we’ve already had him for sixteen years, now…”

“Sixteen _wonderful_ years,” Rin murmurs, as he rapidly blinked away the tears from his eyes.

“Yeah. We’ve already had our time with Ryu – watched him grow up into such a fine young man, even – and it’s only fair that his _actual_ parents be the ones who get to live with him now.” Makoto continues on, each of his hands rubbing calming circles on Rin and Haruka’s backs. “So even if this makes us sad, we have to be happy for Ryu. ‘Cause this is all for the best.”

“Damn, look at us, c- _crying_ like a bunch’a kids,” Rin blurts out, fiercely rubbing away tears from his eyes. “At this rate Ryu’ll be back before we even get started! Back to work, everyone!”

.

.

.

.

In the end the ‘outfit’ Rin somehow fashions from fabric scraps and bandanas falls apart soon as Haruka takes a single step, and the ‘cake’ Makoto puts together falls apart as well, because, of course, _baking_ comes before _frosting_. So Haruka throws his arms up, makes an uncharacteristic groan of utter _disappointment_ , and all but _shoves_ the wands in Makoto and Rin’s hands.

So far so good, since the resulting cake actually ends up being baked _before_ being frosted and topped with candles, and the outfit looks like an actual outfit and not like a study in ancient Greek toga drapery. There’s this little moment just before Rei comes knocking when Rin and Haruka almost mess everything up by bickering over what the shirt color should be, which is an argument made a thousand times more dangerous by the mere presence of magic wands, but eventually they end up fine and they get everything fixed just in time to see the look of pure, unadulterated _happiness_ spreading across Rei’s face.

“Happy birthday, Ryu!” Makoto says, beaming so widely his face might split in half. “I made the cake – I hope you like it!”

“Happy birthday, lil’bro!” Rin grins, putting his knuckles against Rei’s to initiate their signature fist bump. “I made the really nice threads –”

Haruka rams his elbow into Rin’s side, _hard_.

“What I _mean_ to say is, Haru designed the outfit, and _then_ I made it –”

Haruka elbows Rin, again, his face clearly spelling out _Rin, I am completely fed up with you_.

 _Ugh, fine!_ “Haru designed the outfit, and _then_ he oh-so-graciously helped me make it.” Rin grumbles, rolling his eyes at Haruka before grinning at Rei once more. “I still hope you like it, though! I think it’ll look _perfect_ on you.”

Makoto chuckles as he watches Rei looking fondly upon his two bickering ‘brothers’. _Savor every moment, Makoto, for this day is the last you’ll have with him._ “We all think that. We’re all very proud of you, Ryu.”

“Thank you, Makoto- _niisan_ , Haru- _niisan_ , Rin- _niisan_ …I…I…” Rei trails off, dabbing gingerly at his happy tears with the ends of his scarf. “I’ve come to the conclusion that this day is the best day I’ve ever had the honor of having, and everything is just so wonderful and I just can’t help but feel so _happy_! I…thank you, endlessly. My dearest elder brothers.”

Said elder brothers immediately stand a little taller in the face of such blatant adoration, smile a little wider. Even poker-faced _Haruka_. In that one single moment, everything is perfect and brilliant and blindingly radiant; nothing hurts.

That is, of course, until Rei smiles shyly and says something more.

“My dearest elder brothers,” Rei says, a little bit dazedly, “I can’t wait until you see him.”

This is the very moment that all of the wizards’ hearts – Makoto’s, Rin’s, Haruka’s – simultaneously come to an abrupt _stop_.

“Ryu, darling,” Rin hears himself mutter, “did you befriend some wild animal again? Polar bear maybe?”

“No, Rin- _niisan_ ,” Rei chuckles, his eyes bright with an emotion Rin doesn’t dare name. “He’s human, I’m sure of it.”

Haruka jostles Rin, whispers “ _Polar bear_?”

“There was a time when you traveled to the marketplace; Ryu somehow befriended a grizzly and it followed him home. I thought we’d be able to tame it, but it tried to eat Mako, so I stopped trying. Don’t worry, I made sure to teach it a lesson.”

“So _that’s_ why you were wrestling the bear.”

“ _Naturally_. Why’d you think I was wrestling the bear? Actually, don’t answer that question.”

“Ryu, honey,” Makoto croons, completely unaware of the whispered conversation beside him; such was his worry for their royal charge. “Were you all right? This is definitely a stranger you met, after all…”

“Oh, but he isn’t a stranger, Makoto- _niisan_ ,” Rei says in reply, the softest of fond smiles on his face. On one hand it makes Makoto so happy to see him so happy; on the other hand the exact reason why Rei’s so happy makes Makoto’s heart break cleanly in half. “I know this sounds completely illogical, but I’m absolutely sure I’ve seen him before, in my dreams. I’m positive that the young man I met and the young man I often dream about are one and the same – they even _dance_ exactly the same!”

“Damn, it’s a _dream-transmitted_ romance,” Rin whispers to Haruka, harshly, as Rei takes Makoto by the hand and makes some kind of attempt at dancing. “We’re _screwed_ , aren’t we.”

“ _Immensely_ ,” Haruka affirms.

“And then – and then, like he _always_ does in my dreams, he said that I, that I was _‘very beautiful’_!!” Rei gushes, twirling Makoto around like some prince figurine in a music box.

“It seems to me,” Haruka deadpans, as earnest, clumsy Rei and wide-eyed, dogged Makoto go on tripping over each other’s feet, “that he has fallen in love.”

“Oh _crap_.” Rin curses, grabbing at his hair with both hands. “ _No_. I am _not_ ready for this. My little brother is _not_ going out with some strange suspicious guy he danced with in the forest! I am _not_ allowing this! _Ugh_!”

“But _why_ , Rin- _niisan_?” Rei asks, innocently, as if he didn’t just land on top of Makoto in an undignified heap after all his crazed spinning. “I _am_ sixteen, after all. I think that I am sufficiently of age enough to go on a date.”

“ _No_!” Rin snaps, looking very much like a man in endless agony. “No dates ‘til you’re _sixty_!”

“We kinda don’t have the right to say that, Rin,” Makoto says, gingerly, as he stands up and pats dust off his pants. “Ryu’s engaged already, right?”

Now that catches Rei’s attention. “Me? Engaged? Since...since when?”

Makoto and Rin are struck silent by the enormity of their upcoming confession, so Haruka decides that he’ll talk for them instead. “Since the day you were born, Ryu – to the prince of the house of Hazuki.”

“That’s impossible, Haru- _niisan_ ,” Rei scoffs. “To be engaged to a prince, _the_ Hazuki prince, I’d have to be a prince, too. _At least._ ”

“Well...don’t freak out, lil’bro, but you kinda _are_.” Rin mutters, his cheeks the faintest of pink. “A prince, I mean.”

“Prince _Rei_ , of the house Ryugazaki.” Makoto sighs.

“You’re sixteen now, so we’re going to bring you back to the King and Queen – your parents – tonight.” Haruka explains; he’s trying to sound as calm and unruffled as can be, even as Rei stands white-faced and wide-eyed in front of him. “Like we promised them we would.”

“I hope you understand, Ryu – no, you’re _Rei_ now, right? – we only did all this to keep you safe.” Makoto pleads, his green eyes earnest and brimming with tears.

“Ryu, lil’bro, _please_ don’t freak out,” Rin repeats, both his hands raised in front of him.

To be honest it would’ve been better for the three if Rei had, in a fit of childish pique, burst into sobs and ran to cry in his upstairs bedroom. Because then Makoto would follow him upstairs, rub soothing circles in his back and tell him comforting nothings, and Rin would crack outrageous jokes and make obscure death threats to people who’d make him said, and Haruka would wipe away the tears from his face and say that he would always be proud of Ryu, of _Rei_ , no matter what. But that isn’t what Rei does.

Instead, all three of them had to watch as the life just… _drains out_ of their beloved charge, their dearest _little brother_ in all but blood, as he falls to his knees in the middle of the room, eyes blank and unseeing, left too distraught and detached that he can’t even bring himself to _cry_.

.

.

.

.

“I don’t see why he has to marry that Prince,” Haruka says, offhandedly, after they’ve left a tearlessly sobbing Rei to his thoughts. After they’d made that crown to fit perfectly on his head, Rei had buried his face in his hands and made a horrible, heart-crushing sob; the whole walk to the castle, he hadn’t even looked any of them in the eye, not once. And it broke Haruka’s heart.

“Shh, Haru, you know we can’t say that,” Makoto says, pleadingly, even though Haruka knows him well enough to know that his best friend feels exactly the same way regarding the young prince’s betrothal.

“Maybe _we_ can’t, but _I_ can, and _I_ will,” Haruka scoffs while crossing his arms and frowning. “While I am still not on board with letting Ryu date that stranger, I am _not_ going to let Ryu rush into a marriage with someone she doesn’t even love.”

“Haru…” Makoto starts, but Haruka never gets to hear how his sentence ends, for this is the time that Rin calls for them with a tone that makes Haruka’s blood run _cold_.

“Haru! Mako! _Sasabe_ ’s here!”

And just like that, just like that, Rei still drowns in a bathtub, despite everything they’ve done these last sixteen years, just before the sun submerges itself under the horizon completely.

What Sasabe had done – taking over Rei’s mind to lead him to a bathtub Sasabe had made out of his dark magic – would actually be termed as _cheating_ , but then again dark sorcerers never really did play fair, did they?

“I f-feel so…sad f, for the King and Queen,” Makoto says, in between his anguished sobs. “They didn’t even get to…to watch him grow up.”

“And the first time they’ll hear of him after sixteen years,” Haruka adds, tears flowing uncharacteristically freely from his eyes, “is that the curse has been fulfilled.”

Rin scrubs at his tears furiously, no longer caring if they make his eyes red. Let him look like a mess. He already feels like one already. “They won’t hear of this,” he mutters.

And that catches both of Makoto and Haruka’s attentions – because when he says those words with that tone of voice it sounds like a sworn oath.

“Rin…”

“What are you talking about, Rin?”

Rin gives one last, long, lingering look on the young man they’ve called their little brother, how he strikes a fine figure even when asleep, and how he was even more striking when he was awake, when he lived and laughed and smiled for them, _with_ them. This plan he has in mind is a silly plan, and probably makes little sense when said out loud, but – after all that Rei did for them, doing this for him is the least they could do. The least they should do.

“We’re gonna put them _all_ to sleep,” Rin says, softly, “so that they’ll all still be here when Ryu wakes up.”

So this is what the Three Good Wizards do, and they’re about to finish off matters by putting the Hazuki and Ryugazaki royal families to sleep as well, so that the heartbroken wizards could go off and begin mourning the loss of their young, beloved prince, but…fortunately in this case, _sleeptalking_ is something that runs in the Hazuki family. And this is how the Wizards find out one very obscure, yet very crucially important thing…

…that Prince Nagisa, the youngest Hazuki royal and Prince Rei’s arranged-marriage fiancé, happens to be a young man who told his eldest sister that just this morning he had met his true love. A man he had been seeing in his dreams long before; someone who he thought was ‘ _very_ _beautiful_ ’.

“That’s that, then.” Rin says; his voice once more alive and brimming with _purpose_ , with _drive_ , with _determination_. _Our Prince shall wake once more_ , he thinks, _and if we have to save that brat he loves so much from Sasabe’s filthy clutches, then so be it._ “Let’s go, guys. We have a Hazuki prince to rescue, ‘cuz he’s still got a Ryugazaki prince he needs to kiss. So help me God.”

Makoto chuckles, and though it isn’t still at a hundred percent, it’s at least got _some_ amusement to it, which Rin thinks is a good thing. “Still feeling iffy about the idea of Prince Nagisa kissing Ryu?”

“Yes. Yes I am, just. _Eugh_. Ryu’s just turned sixteen, and…why does it _have_ to be kissing.”

“Rin, need I remind you,” Haruka deadpans, “that _you_ were the one who came up with this kind of antidote for this kind of death spell in the first place, and if anyone were to be blamed for the crucial importance of Ryu’s first kiss happening sooner rather than later, it would be _you_.”

“I _know_ that, Haru,” Rin groans, as the three of them continue flying off to Sasabe’s lair at their highest speed. “And right now, I just wanna punch past me, really hard, in his goddamned face.”

**Author's Note:**

>  
> 
> A/N: Hello there! Seeing as I’m still stuck with the finales of both my other Disney/Free! fusion AUs – which now are parts of the same series as this fic – this is where I’ll end it, for now.
> 
> Just in case I don’t end up finishing this in the foreseeable future, have some ‘spoilers’ that actually aren’t spoilers when you’ve already known of _Sleeping Beauty_ :
> 
> Prince Nagisa ends up kissing Prince Rei and it all ends up all right, Rin and Haru continue bickering over Rei’s shirt color even _while_ the two Princes are slow dancing (while Rei sighs half-heartedly, annoyed at his ‘big brothers’’ fussing but still very happy that they’re still here, despite everything), and eventually the Three Good Wizards figure out their mutually reciprocated romantic feels for each other and pursue a relationship where all three of them are in love with each other. They’re also the best men at Rei and Nagisa’s wedding.
> 
> Thanks for reading! I hope that you guys aren’t sick of all my Disney AUs already, and that you liked reading this, somehow. See you around!
> 
>  


End file.
